The present invention relates to a ram air turbine and more specifically to a stowing assembly for a ram air turbine.
Ram air turbines (RATs) are small turbines installed on aircrafts to provide emergency power. Generally, the RAT can be stowed inside of the fuselage or wing of an aircraft and manually or automatically deployed into an airstream outside of the aircraft during a power outage. The RAT rotates in the airstream to generate hydraulic and/or electric power for the aircraft. To prevent movement of the RAT following deployment, a spring loaded downlock pin can be used to secure the RAT in the deployed position. The downlock pin can help prevent rotation of a RAT deployment strut and prevent collision of the RAT with the aircraft while the RAT is operating. Once the aircraft has landed, the RAT can be restowed by manually retracting the downlock pin and operating a hydraulic actuator assembly to retract the RAT into a stowed position. If an operator fails to disengage the downlock pin prior to operating the actuator assembly, the actuator assembly will exert a force against the downlock pin, which can damage the downlock pin, strut, and/or aircraft structure.
A need exists for a stowage assembly that prevents damage to the downlock pin, strut, aircraft, and other components in the event that the operator fails to retract the downlock pin before operating the actuator assembly, while also allowing normal restowage of the RAT if the downlock pin has been retracted. Such stowage assembly should not significantly increase the space or weight of the current technology, or require complicated linkages and hardware or changes to the existing configuration of other system components.